Inuyasha and the Princess
by MamaBearKat
Summary: All of a sudden Izayoi's bottom lip trembled and her soft pointed puppy ears lowered. "Mama go?" Inuyasha squeezed her tightly against him, dropping a soft kiss onto the dark curls between her ears. "Mama is visiting grandma. So it's just us for a little while Princess. It's gonna be fun right?" The taxi drove away. "I wa-want Mama!" Some bad language and mention of adult themes


_Written for dangerouspompadour on Tumblr after a discord conversation about kids needing to be fed every single night. A PapaYasha story._

* * *

"You're only gonna be gone for one night right?"

"Inuyasha, you'll be fine", soothed Kagome, stuffing more clothes into her bag. "I'm really sorry to have to leave like this, but Mama sounded so ill on the phone. I just want to check up on her."

Inuyasha snorted, continuing to walk around their bedroom with Izayoi's tiny hands held in his, while their toddler squealed in delight, her little feet balanced on his larger ones.

"And Sango has promised that she'll come pick Izzy up early tomorrow and take her to daycare", she continued, "so you'll be able to get off to work in time. You just have to make sure to pick her up by 6pm, otherwise daycare will charge extra."

"That's good. And yeah, I can do that." He had a meeting with an architect for his current construction project at 7.30am tomorrow morning; they'd only spoken on the phone as yet, but the guy already sounded like he had a stick firmly wedged up his arse.

His head was still swimming a little. Kagome had got off the phone with her mother, booked a flight, texted Sango and then told him she'd be coming home Monday night all in under half an hour. He knew he'd be fine; Kagome looked after Izzy alone all the time when he was called away for work. And he adored Izayoi. Maybe it would be fun? Some Daddy daughter time?

A loud beeping sounded outside the door. "Oh, that's my taxi already", squeaked Kagome, shoving her feet into her shoes. She picked up Izayoi and gave her a squeezy hug, smothering her round cheeks in raspberry kisses. "Be good for Daddy baby girl. Mama will be home at bedtime tomorrow okay? I'll call you tonight."

Inuyasha bent down to kiss his wife before she could run out the door. "Be safe, okay. Text me when you get there. I love you."

"Love you too." The horn beeped again loudly, and Kagome rolled her eyes. "I gotta go. Be good you two. I love you!"

They all moved out onto the verhandah, Inuyasha and Izayoi waving as Kagome ran down the path with her bag and climbed into the taxi, shutting the door behind her. All of a sudden Izayoi's bottom lip trembled and her soft pointed puppy ears lowered. "Mama go?"

Inuyasha squeezed her tightly against him, dropping a soft kiss onto the dark curls between her ears. "Mama is visiting grandma. So it's just us for a little while Princess. It's gonna be fun right?"

The taxi drove away.

"I wa-want Mama!" Izayoi's soft sobs escalated quickly, and the sound of her heartbreak pulled at Inuyasha's gut. He hated Izayoi's tears almost as much as Kagome's.

"Hey, hey, c'mon now. We're gonna have fun." He bounced her a little in his arms, racking his brain for something that would take Izayoi's mind off Kagome for a moment. "Do ya wanna watch Ponies with me for a little while?"

He braced himself for the usual loud squeal of excitement she let out whenever her favourite show was mentioned, but instead she tucked her head under his chin and hid behind the curtain of his long silver hair. He watched as she silently placed her thumb into her mouth, slow tears trickling down her cheeks.

"I'll take that as a yes."

* * *

Eventually Izayoi fell asleep on his lap, and he gratefully changed the channel. There was only so much pink and purple and magic of friendship he could take in one sitting. She'd watched the show with her cousin Rin, and she loved it. Kagome didn't mind it. Him, not so much.

His stomach grumbled, and he angled his neck to look at the clock on the wall. Shit, it was nearly Izayoi's dinner time. She usually ate earlier, and he and Kagome ate after she was in bed. When it was his turn to cook for him and Kagome he made steak. Or ramen. Both of those weren't really toddler friendly. Cooking for Izzy was definitely Kagome's thing. He though back over recent meals he'd seen Izayoi eat for dinner. Pasta. He was perfectly capable of cooking pasta, and he knew Izayoi liked it. Phew, crisis averted.

* * *

"No!"

Inuyasha was taken aback. As far as he was concerned, he'd cooked a perfectly acceptable dinner for a toddler. Pasta with peas and corn, and some fish fingers he'd dug out of the bottom of the freezer. "Izzy, c'mon, you like pasta. Daddy even cooked the ones that look like little bows!"

"No!" she growled, glaring at the plate in front of her.

"Izayoi!" he barked. He took a deep calming breath. "What's wrong with the food on your plate."

"Don't like red!"

"Red?" And then it hit him. Kagome usually served Izayoi's pasta with pesto, not tomato sauce. "Uh, we were all out of green. Why don't you try it Princess, it's yummy. Look, Daddy will eat some." He picked up her tiny fork and took a mouthful of pasta. Not his favourite thing in the world, but perfectly fine.

Izayoi's eyes looked like they were filling with tears again. Oh boy. His mind whirled frantically, trying to avert the tears.

"Hey, do ya know what else you can call fish fingers? Dippy sticks! Look!" He picked up a fish finger and poked it in the napoletana pasta sauce, then took a bite. "Mmm, dippy sticks, my favourite!" He made sure to scrunch up his eyes and twitch his ears for her, and his heart swelled in relief at the tiny giggle.

"I know, let's have a race and see who can eat their dippy stick the fastest? I bet I can eat mine faster than you Izzy! Ready…"

"Steddygo", squealed Izayoi, clutching a fish finger in her little fist and mashing it into the sauce. She took a mouthful and smiled at him. "Yummy Daddy!" She eventually ate most of her dinner, leaving the peas. Inuyasha couldn't blame her, he didn't think much of peas either. It was his job to put green things on her plate, he wasn't going to force feed them to her if she didn't want to eat them.

He scraped the peas into the bin and dumped the dirty plate in the sink, then piggybacked her to the bathroom. "Bath time for my princess. Do ya want bubbles?"

"Yeah!" She threw her arms out as wide as she could. "Lots and lots!" He chuckled.

"Okay squirt, you got it. Toilet first while Daddy runs the bath. You need help getting those shorts off?" he asked, pointing to the button and zipper.

She shook her head. "Nuh uh. I a big girl."

Just for a second, his eyes misted over, remembering the day she was born only three short years ago. One of the happiest days of his life.

"Do you think you could slow down the growing for me just a smidge, Princess?" he asked, watching as she flushed the toilet all by herself and then managed to finish undressing without help. The tiny underpants were a new thing that she was very proud of, because Mama had told her only big girls got to wear them, and she stroked them lovingly as she put her dirty clothes in the hamper. He snorted when he noticed they had purple and pink ponies on them.

She shook her head and stood on her tiptoes with her arms raised up high, grinning cheekily at him. "I bigger'n Daddy!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Aw, that's a shame, I guess you're too big for me to do…. This!" And he picked her up and blew a huge raspberry on her stomach, then dropped her into the bubbles as she squealed with laughter.

When she was squeaky clean, and Inuyasha had been decorated with a variety of bubble beards and bubble hats, he helped her into her thicker overnight underpants and PJ's, and snuggled her into her little bed with her favourite white dog toy tucked into her elbow.

"Story and song!" Izayoi demanded.

Inuyasha cringed a little. He'd forgotten about the song part of the bedtime routine. Kagome had a variety of songs she sang, and her voice was pleasant and mellow, perfect for lullabies. His, not so much. "Uh, I'll do you a deal. How 'bout, Daddy reads you a story, and we call Mama and she can sing you a song over the phone. How's that."

Izayoi blinked at him slowly. "Okay", she said finally, with a skeptical look on her face, like he was trying to renege on a long standing deal.

"Which story do ya want Princess? Eggs and ham? The one with the baby and the lion?"

"Witch and cat!"

"Room on the Broom it is then!" He grinned, because he liked doing the voices for this one, especially the dragon. He was halfway into the book when she crawled out of bed and into his lap.

"I am a dragon, as mean as can be, and I'm planning to have WITCH and CHIPS for my tea!" Inuyasha growled.

Izayoi clutched onto his shirt. "Dragon scary!"

Whoops. Maybe he'd gotten a little too into it this time. "Hey, it's okay. We know the witch is gonna be fine because all her friends are gonna scare him away. He's just a big scaredy dragon!"

Izayoi nodded, the soft pointed ears on top of her head flicking sleepily. She popped her thumb into her mouth as he finished the story, snuggling against him. By the time he was finished, her eyes were blinking slowly. He put the book back on the shelf and tucked her back into her little bed.

"Song", she whispered.

"One song, comin' right up." He fished his mobile out of his back pocket and called Kagome. "Hi love. I have one sleepy princess requesting a bedtime song."

"What. You're not going to sing one?" she giggled.

"I think we both know that my talents in the bedroom lie in other areas." She snort laughed and he grinned. "I'm putting you on speaker."

Kagome's soft voice cooed into the bedroom, and both Inuyasha and Izayoi sighed, ears twitching. "Hey little pup. What song do you want Mama to sing for you sweetheart?"

"Mama!" Izayoi said sleepily, her ears twitching towards the phone. "Love you Mama. Train whistle."

Kagome laughed softly. "I love you too baby. Okay, are you listening?"

Izayoi nodded, and Inuyasha said softly, "Yep, she's ready."

_Train whistle blowin'  
Makes a sleepy noise  
Underneath the blankets  
For all the girls and boys_

_Rockin' rollin' ridin'  
Out along the bay  
All bound for Morningtown  
Many miles away_

"She's asleep", whispered Inuyasha softly, taking the phone off speaker and backing slowly out of the room. He sat down with a thump on the sofa. "How's Mama?"

"They did some blood tests at the hospital, and apparently she's really low in iron. They gave her a blood transfusion and she has an appointment to see a heamatologist next week."

"Shit. Do they know why?"

Kagome sighed. "You know what she's like. I doubt she's been looking after herself properly, now that she doesn't have Grandpa to care for. I was hoping now that she'd retired from the shrine that she'd do things that she loved to do, but I don't think she's doing that well Inuyasha." Kagome's voice sounded a little wobbly.

Inuyasha swallowed. He adored Kagome's mother. He'd been a brash belligerent teenager when he'd first started going out with Kagome in senior high school, and Kagome's mother had seen it for the front that it was. Kagome had known that he was hurting after the sudden death of his parents in a car accident, and so had she. It was a situation the Higurashi's were all too familiar with, after the loss of Kagome's father.

Mama had refused to allow him to push her away, even though shrine families weren't usually accepting of demons, and had loved him like a son. No one had been happier for them when he and Kagome had decided to get married. He loved her almost as much as he'd loved his own mother. He pictured the once bright eyed, busy woman sitting by herself in a small apartment. She was probably so lonely.

"Kagome. Do ya think she'd live with us? I mean, if she wanted, I could even build her a little house in the back yard. Then it wouldn't be like she was livin' in our back pocket. She could visit us when she wanted, and we'd be close by if she needed us. And Izzy would get to see her every day." Kagome's quiet sob on the other end of the line startled him. "Hey love, you okay?"

"I'm fine", she sniffed. "I… I'll ask her, okay?"

"Don't cry! Dammit, I didn't suggest it to make you cry, I thought it would make you happy! If she's not lookin' after herself, I want her to be closer!"

Kagome giggled. "I'm not really crying, I'm just… you are an amazing husband, do you know that?"

"Shut up."

"You are! And an amazing Dad. How did dinner go?"

"I stuffed up a bit. Made her pasta with red sauce instead of pesto. But she ate most of it."

"Good job Daddy."

He could practically see the beaming smile on Kagome's face on the other end of the line and he sighed. "I miss you Kagome."

"I miss you too. Only one night, and then I'll be home tomorrow."

"Why don't you bring Mama too, if she'll come. We could probably get her an appointment here, couldn't we?"

"I'll ask her. You know how stubborn she can be some times."

"Yeah", he chuckled, "I know. I got two stubborn reminders that live in the same house as me."

"Hey!" He heard a soft voice in the background. "Okay Mama, be there in just a moment."

Inuyasha sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow. Do you want us to pick you up at the airport?"

"No, it's okay – it's usually crazy at that time of night, and it's too close to Izzy's bedtime. I'll just catch a taxi. Good luck with that meeting tomorrow."

"Thanks", he snorted. "Can't say I'm lookin' forward to it. Guy sounds like a first class prat."

"Just… hold your temper", Kagome soothed. "Bottle it up, and you can grump about him to me when I get home."

"Oh no. I got _other_ plans for you when you get home."

"Oh really?"

Inuyasha lowered his voice to a rough purr. "Maybe I can get you to sing a bedtime song for me. Last time we were together I'm pretty sure you hit a few soprano notes", he grinned.

"Shut. Up!"

"You love it."

"You just wait until I get home mister! No mercy!" She paused for a moment. "I'm sorry hon, I gotta go, Mama's calling. Love you."

"Sweet dreams, sweet cheeks."

Inuyasha ended the call despondently. The house just seemed empty without Kagome in it. He traipsed into the kitchen, opened the fridge, then shut it again. He looked in the cupboard, and there was one packet of ramen left on the top shelf. He couldn't be bothered cooking anything else.

He slumped down on the sofa, clicking through the channels and then snorted in disgust, turning off the tv and his attention to his dinner instead. He may as well go to bed early without Kagome here, just in case Izayoi woke up during the night.

He dumped the plate in the sink and went and had a quick shower, groaning as he wondered if Kagome was in the shower at the same time as him, picturing her generous curves soaped up under swiftly falling water. Gods, he was pathetic. He missed her presence like a physical ache. He was away for work sometimes, true, but it seemed different somehow, when she wasn't home and he was.

He dried himself off quickly, pulling on his soft grey sleep shorts and falling into the bed that seemed way too big without Kagome in it. He went over his meeting plans in his head, staring at the ceiling, wishing his wife was curled up next to him.

* * *

"MAAAAMAAAAA!" The high pitched scream had him bolting upright, and he flung himself out of bed, bashing his shoulder on the door frame as he careened down the hallway towards Izayoi's room.

He kneeled down next to her bed. Her tear filled amber eyes were easily visible in the soft glow of the night light, and shuddering sobs shook her little body. "A Mons-ster!" she sobbed, trying to get her little arms free of the quilt. "Want Mama!"

"Hey baby, it's okay, it was just a bad dream", he soothed, stroking the sweaty hair back from her forehead. "There's no monster here."

"He ate Mama!" she sobbed, launching herself at Inuyasha. "Mama gone!" Her hiccuping sobs pulled at his heartstrings, and he picked her up, cradling her against his chest so that she could hear the solid beat of his heart.

"No monster", he repeated firmly, as he carried her down the hallway towards his and Kagome's bedroom. "Mama went to visit Grandma, and she'll be home tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yup. Sango will take you to daycare tomorrow, then Daddy will pick you up, and by the time you've had dinner and bath, Mama will be home again. I promise Princess."

"Pinkie promise?"

It was a concept he had only recently educated in, but he nodded solemnly, viewing it as the sacred pact it was. "Pinkie promise", he said, hooking his larger pinkie finger around her smaller one.

His sleepy brain engaged a little more, and he walked them back towards the bathroom. "You wanna try goin' to the toilet before you hop into Mama and my bed?"

"Okay." She stood sleepily in front of the toilet and gazed at him without moving, so he turned her around and helped her pull down her PJ pants and underpants and plonked her on the toilet. He waited silently for a minute, then looked down to notice she was actually asleep sitting up. Chuckling as he fixed her clothes and picked her up again, he padded silently back to his bedroom, carefully placing her on Kagome's side, hoping her scent on the pillow would help Izzy sleep.

He gazed at his little girl as she sprawled herself out like a starfish, her nose and ears twitching for a moment before she settled back into a deeper sleep. There was a time when he'd thought he'd never want children, because life had seemed to be determined to keep him alone. And then he'd found Kagome, or rather, Kagome had found him, bossing her way into his life and not taking no for an answer. And now they had this beautiful child together. His princess. He dropped a soft kiss onto the dark hair between her pointed ears and then settled back down to sleep himself.

* * *

"Daaaaadddyyyyyy!"

Inuyasha grunted as he felt the full weight of a solid three year old landing directly on his bladder. He opened one sleepy eye. "Yeah?"

"The door!"

"Fuu—iretruck!" he groaned, leaping out of bed at the sound of knocking on the front door. Had he slept in? Nope, 6.45am. He usually got up at 7. He opened the front door a crack, poking his head through. "Yeah?"

"It's just us!" grinned a smiling Sango, holding Shinzu on her hip. "Miroku's going to drop off the girls at school, so I thought I'd come over a little early and help you get Izzy ready for daycare."

"Uh, okay?" said Inuyasha with a puzzled expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Kagome texted me and told me you had an early meeting. Did I get it wrong?" She laughed at the suddenly panicked face Inuyasha made as he opened the door wide to let her in. "I take it you _do_ have an early meeting?"

She stepped inside, then grinned teasingly at Inuyasha, pointing at his sleep shorts. "Is this a really informal meeting? Because I don't think those are going to cut it."

"Shut up", he growled.

Izayoi ran towards Sango and hugged her legs. "Saaaango! Baaaaby Shiiizuuuu!"

Sango ruffled the dark hair on Izayoi's head, being careful of her pointed puppy ears. "Hey Izzy – you had breakfast yet?"

"No. Daddy asleep." She held her hand over her mouth and giggled. "Daddy snores!" She stuck her fingers in her ears as if to emphasise how loud it had been.

"Way to rat me out kiddo", muttered Inuyasha, raising an eyebrow at her. Izayoi hid behind Sango's leg, then giggled some more.

"Go get ready Inuyasha, I'll get Izzy off to daycare. I'm pretty sure I know where everything is."

Inuyasha jogged towards the bathroom, then paused. "Thanks Sango, I really appreciate this."

"Enough to babysit and give me and Miroku a night out?" she asked with a hopeful air.

Inuyasha thought for a moment about wrangling the twins, Shinzu and and Izayoi combined, then shrugged. "I'll talk it over with Kagome, but yeah, sure."

"Done. Stop talking and go get ready!"

He was back twenty minutes later in his business clothes, long hair neatly braided and the tie he only wore for meetings with clients already choking him. Izayoi was seated at the table, happily eating yoghurt and fruit. He dropped a kiss on her head. "Be good today Izzy. I'll be there to pick you up from daycare, okay?"

"Okay, bye bye", she said happily, making a funny face at Shinzu so the baby squealed in delight.

Inuyasha rushed out the door. "See you later Sango! And thanks!"

"You're welcome!" she sang out, her voice punctuated by the loud slam of the front door.

* * *

Inuyasha growled as he gripped the steering wheel, glancing again at the clock on the dash. 5.55pm. He'd already called ahead to tell the daycare director that he was stuck in traffic and should be there soon, but that didn't make him feel any less guilty.

The whole day had been a write off – filled with pointless meetings with pencil pushers and government know-it-alls that wouldn't know good construction timeframes if they bit them on the arse. He had been so close to losing it a number of times. It was only the thought that his temper might cost his team the contract that kept him in check. At least it was all finalised now. But thanks to them, he was late picking up his daughter, the very first time he'd been asked to do it. Shit.

It took another five minutes to find a parking spot, and he ran the rest of the way. The lights in the centre were off, but he knocked on the door, bouncing on the balls of his feet nervously, and a smiling cat demon let him in, her tail twitching in amusement at his flustered appearance.

"Izayoi's in the director's office doing some colouring – right this way."

"I am so sorry", he panted, and she smiled at him, holding up a hand.

"It's okay, you called and let us know what was happening. We let Izayoi know you'd be a little late, and she seemed fine. These things happen."

Inuyasha poked his head around the office door. "Izzy?"

"Daaaadddy!" She vaulted herself into his arms, and he picked her up, giving her a squeezy hug.

"I'm sorry I was late baby. The car got stuck in traffic on the way here."

Her bottom lip trembled a little. "Everyone gone home."

"All the other kids have gone home?" She nodded. "I'm sorry you were the last one here Izzy." Inuyasha turned his head towards the director. "I really am sorry for my lateness. I got caught up in meetings at work, and didn't leave early enough to avoid the traffic."

"That's quite alright Mr. Takahashi. These things happen", the director said, making a shooing motion with her hands.

They stopped to get Izayoi's little backpack, then walked out of the centre.

"You know what?" said Inuyasha, swinging Izayoi's little hand as they walked side by side towards the car. "Daddy had a grumpy day. And do you know what would cheer me up?"

Izayoi's ears pricked up hopefully, and her eyes widened. "Ice-cream?!"

"Ice-cream", he agreed, nodding seriously. "Should we eat it in a cone, or get some to take home?"

"Cone!" squeaked Izayoi, almost dancing on the spot.

Pretty soon they were sitting in an ice-cream parlour, Izzy with a small vanilla cone, napkin tucked into her shirt to save it from the drips, and Inuyasha with a towering triple scoop waffle cone monstrosity with extra fudge. Izayoi sighed happily as she licked, not quite fast enough to stop it dripping down her arm.

"I sticky."

"Gotta keep licking!" said Inuyasha, turning her cone to the other side so she could lick the drips. If Kagome were here, she'd produce some of those wet wipes that seemed to fix a multitude of problems. Inuyasha snagged a couple more paper napkins from the dispenser and wrapped them around Izayoi's little wrist, tucking the ends in. "There, that might help a little."

"A bracelet! Thank you Daddy!"

Inuyasha snorted. "Glad to see my Princess is so easily pleased by paper jewellery. Keep licking Izzy, or it'll fall."

Once the ice-cream was eaten, it was time to go home. There was a short argument about keeping the soggy napkin bracelet for ever and ever, but after Inuyasha had promised to replace it with a real one when it was her birthday, she finally stopped stomping her small foot, and smiled. Crisis averted.

* * *

Inuyasha felt slightly guilty when he realised that Sango had done the washing up for him. Whoops. Oh well.

"You wanna help me make dinner Izzy?" he asked, hoping that would ward off any dinnertime disputes.

"Yeah!" She was rubbing her eyes a little sleepily, so he knew it would have to be something quick.

"How about boiled egg on toast?"

Izayoi looked at him quizzically, and Inuyasha remembered it was something she usually only ate for breakfast.

"It's been a topsy turvy day. Let's have breakfast for dinner!"

Izayoi snorted then giggled. "Silly Daddy!"

"Hey, it's okay to be silly sometimes. Let's boil an egg!" He let Izayoi pick an egg from the carton, then helped her place it carefully into the cold water in the saucepan. They put a slice of bread in the toaster, and she pushed down the lever herself, and then looked at him proudly.

"My princess is getting to be such a big girl!"

She nodded excitedly, then yawned.

Inuyasha buttered the toast and fished the egg out of the saucepan, peeling off the shell quickly and mashing it onto the toast.

"You want fingers or a squash sandwich?"

"Squash." Her eyes blinked sleepily. He'd cut it pretty fine by taking her out for ice-cream; it was just about her bedtime now. Inuyasha picked her up and put her on her seat at the table. He folded the toast over carefully, making it like half a sandwich.

"Just eat a few bites Princess, and then you can have a quick bath, okay?"

Izayoi nodded sleepily, then munched her way through the middle of the sandwich leaving all the crust.

"All done? Let's go take that bath." He ran a small bath, and washed her quickly; the fact that she wasn't wanting to play told him exactly how tired she was. He lifted her out of the water and she stood on the bathmat as he rubbed her dry.

"Where Mama?"

Shit. Kagome had texted him that her plane had been a little delayed and she was just getting in a taxi, hopefully she would be home any minute.

"She'll be here soon, Princess. How about Daddy will keep reading stories until she gets home?"

The bottom lip trembled a little. "Want Mama."

Inuyasha helped her into her night time underpants and pj's. "She'll be here soon baby. Let's go read those stories, okay?"

"Want Mama."

Her little nose rubbed against his neck, ears flicking against his chin, and he felt a few warm tears slide down. Shit. C'mon Kagome. He carried Izayoi down to her bedroom, but instead of sitting on the chair, he sat down on her bed with her still cradled in his lap. She stayed curled up, her little thumb firmly in her mouth.

"Sad."

"You're feelin' sad, cause Mama isn't home yet?" Little nod. "I miss her too when she's away. I love you and your Mama sooo much. All the way to the moon and back."

"Moon story."

"Goodnight Moon?" Izayoi shook her head.

"Rabbit."

"Sorry kiddo, you're gonna have to give me more than that. There's a rabbit and a moon in the story?"

"Big Rabbit. Daddy Rabbit. And Little Rabbit. Izayoi Rabbit." Inuyasha heart swelled and he dropped a kiss to her head. She was worse at tugging on his heartstrings than Kagome. Or better. Probably both.

"I think I know the one ya mean." He reached over to her little bookcase carefully, and got a small battered board book. The first book they'd ever bought her, when she was still in Kagome's womb. They'd bought it on the way home from the hospital after the ultrasound at twenty weeks, after seeing fuzzy images of their baby tumble about on the screen, sucking her thumb. There were still little teeth marks around the edges where she'd bitten it as a baby.

"Guess how much I love you", he began. A key clicked in the front door lock, and Kagome's voice called out.

"Helloooo, I'm hoooome."

"We're in Izzy's room", he called out quietly, turning the page. "Little Nutbrown Hare, who was going to bed, held on tight to Big Nutbrown Hare's very long ears."

Kagome walked quietly into the room, leaning down to kiss Izayoi's cheek.

"Mama", Izayoi sighed sleepily.

"You want Mama to finish the story for ya Izzy?" asked Inuyasha. She shook her head.

"Daddy Rabbit."

Kagome smiled at them both, and sat down on the chair. "I'll listen too, if that's okay." She stroked Izayoi's hair as Inuyasha read, and the little eyes drifted closed as he finished the last page.

Inuyasha rumbled a pleased sound through his chest. He couldn't help it. Kagome was home. Izayoi was asleep and no longer sad. All was right in his world.

"Need some help escaping?" Kagome smiled. She helped lift Izayoi up gently so Inuyasha could slide out from underneath her, and Kagome pulled the quilt up over her, tucking her dog toy into her arms, and kissing her forehead. "Sweet dreams, Izzy."

They tiptoed out of the little bedroom, and back down the hallway. Inuyasha picked up Kagome's suitcase and carried it to their bedroom, Kagome following behind him.

"Mama didn't want to come with you?"

"No. She was very definite about seeing the specialist there. Souta is taking the day off to go with her."

"What did she say about our idea?"

"I think she might say yes. She's thinking about it at the moment, but the idea of seeing Izzy everyday was very appealing", smiled Kagome. She curled her arms around Inuyasha's neck and hugged him tight. "I missed you so much! Did everything go okay with Izzy while I was away?"

"Pretty much. She missed you a lot. I did too." His hands drifted down her back and over her bottom cheeks, suddenly wrapping around her thighs and lifting her up, snorting in laughter at her sudden yelp of surprise.

"We still haven't finished the bedtime routine Ka-go-me", he purred, walking over to their bedroom door and closing it firmly, his eyes fixed on hers hungrily. "You owe me a song."

* * *

_Just in case anyone wanted to know the two books that Inuyasha read to Izzy!_

_'Room on the Broom' by Julia Donaldson and 'Guess How Much I Love You' by Sam McBratney, both firm favourites as bedtime stories in our house. If you want to hear the whole story, just search for them on YouTube - there's heaps of readings._

_The song Kagome sang was the first verse of Morningtown Ride, by The Seekers, a song I've sung all my children to sleep with._

_Hope you enjoyed PapaYasha - he's a weakness of mine._


End file.
